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Hitting The Course For The Kids

Team Baseball, World Series champions David Wells (left) and Kevin Millar (right), with 2013 Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network champion Ikaika Ka‘ahanui (10), who served as their ‘Miracle Caddy’ in last week’s Ace Hardware Shootout golf tournament. Team Baseball won the tourney | Nathalie Walker photo

Former Major League Baseball player and 2004 World Series champion Kevin Millar visited Oahu for the first time last week. He was here for the Ace Hardware Shootout golf tournament at Turtle Bay’s Palmer Course to help raise funds for and awareness of the critical care Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals provide throughout North America, including at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. Other athletes from the NFL, NBA and NASCAR also were at the charity event, including NBA Hall of Famers Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Clyde Drexler, and three-time Super Bowl champion Steve Young.

“The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a remarkable foundation to be a part of and such a great opportunity, especially (for me) being a father of four,” says Millar, who has been involved with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Ace Hardware events for the past eight years. “Any time you have a chance to touch kids’ lives, that’s ultimately what it boils down to: the lives that are saved through this event and this foundation. There are all kinds of foundations, but I think any time you’re talking about kids, there’s a soft spot in a lot of people’s hearts.”

Also taking part in the tourney was Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network champion, 10-year-old Ikaika Kaahanui, who served as the tournament’s Miracle Caddie.

“Ikaika is one of my favorite little boys,” says Millar, who met him a few years ago. “To know his story, the battles he has had, the whole situation touches your life forever. And it excites me to see his progress.”

Millar, who grew up in Los Angeles and lives in Austin, Texas, played 12 years in MLB and says life now is about raising his kids (8-year-old boy/girl twins, a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter) and trying to be the best father. He also co-hosts a show on the MLB Network called Intentional Talk with Chris Rose.

To stay in shape, he tries to go to the gym three days a week and enjoys playing golf, adding that he’s about a 6 handicap. He also tries to eat healthy, but admits to having a “Nestle tooth” and late-night gummy bear cravings.

And while he’s never been to Oahu before, he says he used to go to Maui a lot as a kid because his grandparents lived there.

“Hawaii is the most unbelievable place,” he says. “The food is wonderful and the people are very friendly. There’s not a whole lot of things you can dislike about it.”